Ian Franks

WOOSTER, Ohio – Behind 8-of-13 3-point shooting in the first half and a strong defensive effort in the second, top-seeded College of Wooster steadily pulled away from the No. 8 seed, Kenyon College, as the Fighting Scots triumphed 73-59 during the teams' North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal Tuesday night at Timken Gymnasium.

Timken Gym will now serve as the home for the semifinal round on Friday, featuring No. 2 seed Wabash College (18-7) versus No. 3 seed Wittenberg University (20-6) and No. 5 seed Ohio Wesleyan University (13-13) against Wooster (21-5), as well as Saturday's championship.

Against Kenyon (6-19), the Scots led for all but two possessions, both coming in the early stages, and they utilized a 10-3 run late in the first half to secure a 41-32 advantage going into the break. Wooster's outside shooting rate of .615 was the difference in that opening 20 minutes.

In the second, the Scots held down the Lords to just 8-of-25 field goals (.320) and strung together a similar late run, this time 10-2 to take a 72-55 cushion before emptying the bench with a little over 2:00 left.

Overall, Wooster shot more than 50 percent from the floor (.509; 27-for-53) for the third consecutive game, including finishing at 52.2 percent on its 3-pointers (12-for-23), which offset the Scots' second-worst night from the free throw line (.500; 7-for-14) this season. Wooster also helped limit Kenyon to approximately 40 percent field-goal shooting (.404; 21-for-52) and outrebounded the Lords 34-28.

The Scots put three in double figures, headlined by Ian Franks' 25 points, which included 9-of-11 field goals (4-of-5 3-pointers). Nathan Balch contributed 13 tallies in the scoring column, keyed by 3-fo-5 3-pointers, and off the bench, Matt Fegan hit 3-for-4 3-balls as part of a 12-point night.

Bryan Wickliffe added a team-high nine rebounds to the winning effort.

Noteworthy performances from Kenyon came courtesy of Dave Knapke, who registered a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Anthony Chun, who tallied game highs with nine assists and three steals.

The Wabash-Wittenberg semi will tip off at 6 p.m., and 30 minutes following the conclusion of that one, Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster vie for the other spot in the finals.